Over the last few years as our startup ecosystem has grown, it has become common practice for startups facing financial constraints to ‘offer’ unpaid internship opportunities to more often than not younger aged people. A lot of the time these ‘internships’ are built on the hope that it will lead to a paid job in the company, or at the very least give the incumbent ‘free worker’ some really great exposure on what it is really like to work at a startup.

Although Australia Post are clearly being innovative with new products such as its digital mailbox, the communication and community buy-in surrounding these products are a serious issue. It has created a perception the organisation is perhaps not as innovative or forward thinking as it genuinely is.

Large companies like Telstra in Australia have begun to realise the importance an API plays in the growth of the local technology ecosystem. In fact, in January 2014, Telstra appointed Frank Arrigo as the company’s API Evangelist, guiding the software group in developing its overall API strategy.

Defining what is a startup and highlighting what type of products and services truly support startups (i.e. looking at who does and does not actually belong in the ecosystem) is just as critical to policy formation for the space as defining the difference between what a startup and small business is.

Founded by Amanda Westphal, Sydney based startup Prize Pig is a new platform that aims to make it easier for small businesses to get access to media exposure without the overheads of the media spend that would usually come with it.

If the company name Coffee Meets Bagel sounds familiar to you, it would be because earlier this year its founders, three sisters, Arum, Dawoon and Soo Kang famously turned down a $30 million acquisition offer from Mark Cuban on their recent appearance on the US version of television show Shark Tank.

Sydney based startup Qwilr founded by Mark Tanner and Dylan Baskind announced last week that it has raised $500,000 in seed funding led by Sydney Seed Fund and Macdoch Ventures. That’s exciting as Qwilr is perhaps one of the more revolutionary Australian startups we have seen launch in the last few years.